Cleansing Fire

Defending Truth and Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church

Romney on Mandating Contraception

February 13th, 2012, Promulgated by b a

10 Days ago Republican nominee Mitt Romney wrote an editorial in the Washington Examiner.

President Obama versus religious liberty

On January 20, 2012, the Obama administration affirmed a rule that would force Roman Catholic hospitals, charities, and universities to purchase health insurance for their employees that includes coverage for contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization, in violation of their religious principles. This is wrong.

As you can see Romney was quite critical of the recent Obama/HHS decision and appeared to be a strong supporter of religious liberty. However, if you look at his record and not just his expedient commentary, you’ll find a slightly different picture.

Romney: Flip-Flopping on Contraception?

This story is a little more complex than the current issue with Obamacare, so you’ll want to read the whole story to truly understand all the nuances, but here’s the gist.


Romney said, “My own view is that every hospital should provide to rape victims information about emergency contraception, or emergency contraception itself.”

“Romney reversed course on the state’s new emergency contraception law yesterday, saying that all hospitals in the state will be obligated to provide the morning-after pill to rape victims,” reported the Boston Globe on December 9.

“They’ve taken the position now that the preexisting statute somehow does not shield Catholic and other private hospitals from this new mandate,” Avila told the Pilot, a Boston Catholic newspaper.

C. J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts… was displeased by his decision to heed his lawyers’ advice and nullify the older conscience statute. “It was Governor Romney who effectively pulled the rug out from under Catholic hospitals by coming up with this rather novel, unheard-of interpretation of this pre-existing statute,” he says.

As I mentioned, this story is nuanced. So it’s only fair to provide these words as well.

Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, reflects on the incident with more sympathy for Romney. “His lawyers came in and said, ‘This is the way it has to be,’” she says of the December 2005 incident. “I’m not sure how many people would have said, ‘Well, I don’t care.’ I don’t know what else he might have done.”

Just something to be aware of. If you’re looking for someone to staunchly defend religious liberty, Romney might not be your guy.

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One Response to “Romney on Mandating Contraception”

  1. Raymond F. Rice says:

    If rape is allowed to be an exception, every emergency room in every hospital and every drug store will be jammed with “rape” (?) victims.

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